


Dreaming of You

by Sindy Sugar (SindySugar)



Category: Neko no Ongaeshi | The Cat Returns
Genre: F/M, Fantasy, Fluff, One Shot, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Songfic, Studio Ghibli
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-07
Updated: 2018-12-07
Packaged: 2019-09-13 14:54:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16894704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SindySugar/pseuds/Sindy%20Sugar
Summary: It's been 3 years since Haru last seen Baron. She longs to see him again and to also tell him her true feelings, but can't bring herself to see him again. Will Haru gather up her courage to see Baron again? Or will she keep to herself and continue to avoid him?





	Dreaming of You

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first songfic! (Originally posted 2/8/2013) I decided to finally re-edit this and have this be my first post on AO3. I hope you enjoy!
> 
> I do not own The Cat Returns nor do I own the song!

 

**_Late at night when all the world_ **

**_Is sleeping_ **

**_I stay up and think of you_ **

 

Playing with the tips of her short brown hair, that rested at her cheek, Haru gazed at the starry night sky from her bedroom window. Her round brown eyes clouded, her mind preoccupied with a certain cat creation that’s been on her mind ever since her adventure with him three years prior. She hadn’t seen Baron since and she missed him terribly.

She's seen Muta a couple of times but never actually talked to him. She mostly just furtively walked by the Crossroads every now and again, in order to see if she can spot the fatso. When she did, however, she never had the courage to talk to him let alone ask if she could visit the Bureau, which made her frustrated beyond belief with herself.

'I'm such a coward. Why can't I just go to see them already?' Haru thought burying her head in her hands.

'I'm not even sure if it's because it's been so _long_ or because I'm afraid to face Baron again after my confession.'

Haru let out a tired sigh, slumping on her stomach on her bed, still staring out at the night sky.

'Oh grow up, Haru. He pretty much already gave you his answer already.'

_"Just for the record, I admire a young woman who speaks from the heart."_

'Baron doesn't like me...he only **admires** me. . .' but with that thought in mind, Haru paused.

'Or. . . maybe something else completely?'

Haru sighed out of frustration, brushing her hand through her hair roughly, a small pout on her lips.

'I wish I knew exactly what Baron meant when he said that to me.'

 

**_And I wish on a star_ **

**_That somewhere you are_ **

**_Thinking_ **

**_Of me too_ **

 

Haru continued to look up at the night sky. The sky was filled with more stars than she ever seen before. Usually, the city lights would block out the light from most of the stars, but tonight for some reason, they seemed more visible than usual. Large stars, delicate looking stars, stars that were strung together like jewelry, and ones that didn't blink, making Haru conclude those were planets. It made Haru silently wish she owned a telescope.

Haru continued to stare at the stars for what seemed like hours, she couldn't tell, she's lost track of how long she's been gazing out at them by now.

'I wish I could see Baron again.'

Haru then softly frowned.

'But would it even matter if I saw him again or not? I'd be happy, but would Baron even care? I wonder if he even thinks of me at all, even as a passing thought. . .?'

　

**_Cause I'm dreaming_ **

**_Of you tonight_ **

**_Till tomorrow_ **

**_I'll be holding you tight_ **

 

Haru turned away from her window and looked at her blue cow alarm clock, shocked to read that it was almost three thirty in the morning.

'I guess I should probably get to bed.' she thought with a sheepish smile.

Haru sat up from her lying position in order to close her window and then slid under the covers of her bed and got comfy.

'I wonder what tonight’s dream will have in store for me?'

Ever since her adventure three years ago, she's been continuingly dreaming about it. She would dream up the Cat Kingdom over and over again, nonstop, it was almost bittersweet.

She would dream about Yuki and Lune's wedding day. Her sitting with the crowd of cats, watching as the future King and Queen of the Cat Kingdom recited their vows and pledged their love for one another. She would dream about escaping the Cat King again, darting around the Kingdom's labyrinth, being chased by the Cat King's guardsmen. She would dream about Toto and Muta having their daily arguments, which strangely occurred on top of the Kingdom's tower and not the Bureau. But mostly, she would dream about the baron.

Her most reoccurring dream would be of him and her dancing the waltz they shared during the ruse to escape the Cat King, except this time they were dancing with each other because they simply wanted to.

Baron would smile down at her and she would smile back. They would both dance as though, dancing was the only thing that mattered, till the dream was over and Haru would wake up, feeling empty inside each time she woke up from her wonderful dream.

　

**_And there's nowhere in the world I'd rather be_ **

**_Than here in my room_ **

**_Dreaming about_ **

**_You and me_ **

 

As much as the dreams left an empty or bittersweet feeling, she adored them. They were the only method in which she could ever see him again.

　

**_Wonder if you ever see me_ **

**_And I_ **

**_Wonder if you know I'm there_ **

 

'Baron.... do you even think of me?' Am I just a friend of yours? Or am I just one of your clients who was in need of help and nothing more?'

 

**_If you looked in my eyes_ **

**_Would you see what's inside_ **

**_Would you even care?_ **

 

'I wonder if Baron knew that I liked him from the start? Well he _did_ see me blush when he carried me up that tower. I _did_ tell him I had a crush on him. But, does it really matter to him that I like him or not? ... Does he even care?'

　

**_I just wanna hold you close_ **

**_But so far_ **

**_all I have are dreams of you_ **

 

Her thoughts flooded but her eyes heavy, she began to drift away in dreamland, finally.

Before she knew it, Haru found herself in the middle of a ballroom floor, with soft waltzing music flooding her ears. She wore a yellow gown that was slightly different from the one she wore in the Cat Kingdom, less poofy, less frilly.

She stood alone in the ballroom till she felt a tap on her shoulder.

Haru turned to see the Baron wearing the same Musketeer-like outfit he wore in the Cat Kingdom, except his face mask free.

"May I have this dance?" he asked as he held his hand out for her to take.

Haru giggled as she placed her hand in his.

"Why of course" Haru said smiling up at him as she took his hand.

Baron then lead her towards the middle of the ballroom, the music playing a bit louder, as the two of them began to glide across the floor for what seemed like hours of blissful happiness.

Haru starred up into Baron's beautiful shining emerald eyes and couldn't help but melt under his gaze.

'Why can't I even tell this "Dream Baron" how I feel? I am such a coward...' thought Haru with a inward sigh, as she was still being swept away by the baron.

　

**_So I wait for the day_ **

**_And the courage to say_ **

**_How much_ **

**_I love you_ **

**_Yes I do!_ **

 

Baron twirled Haru around once more but suddenly, much to Haru's surprise, they both came to a halt.

Haru looked up at Baron in confusion. Baron's never stopped mid-dance before.

Baron sighed.

"What's wrong Haru?" he suddenly asked.

Haru stared up at Baron in shock.

Sure, maybe it was a little obvious that something was bothering her, but never once in her dreams when she was dancing with Baron, had he ever said a word to her besides asking her to dance, till now.

Deciding she was remaining silent too long, she finally spoke.

"Well, it's just that.." she tried to say, looking away.

Baron reached down to cup her chin, so she could look at him.

"Yes?" he replied.

"I-It's just that... I know this is a dream..." Haru replied, lowering her eyes to look away from Baron. "And I'm afraid to wake up, knowing that I won't be able to really see you beyond my dreams... because I'm too afraid to see you... in real life."

　

**_I'll be dreaming_ **

**_Of you tonight_ **

**_Till tomorrow_ **

**_I'll be holding you tight_ **

 

Baron who was not expecting such a confession, blinked down at Haru for what seemed like minutes, till he smiled gently down at her.

"Why are you afraid to see me, Haru?"

"Well, not you! Just the..." Haru anxiously swayed a slightly, trying to put her words in a way that wouldn't offend "Dream Baron".

"The real Baron?" he asked.

Haru sighed sadly, hating to admit this.

"Yes..."

Baron chuckled slightly and held Haru tighter to him.

"Well then....why won't you go see him?" asked Baron.

"B-Because! I'm-I'm afraid of how he'll react when he sees me again... a-after all this time. Like if he-he'll invite me in or push me away."

Baron looked down at her in shock.

"Why on earth would you think he would push you away?" he asked.

"Because, the last time I saw him I confessed my feelings to him, and because of that, it would be awkward between us! ... Especially since he doesn't feel the same way about me... He probably doesn't want to deal with a lovestruck human girl."

Baron's green eyes softened.

"Dear Haru... do you really think that?"

"... Am I wrong?"

Baron silently stared down at her for a long moment. Before Haru could think her dream actually paused, Baron hummed in response.

"Hmmm... I think you should find that out for yourself, Ms. Haru."

　

**_And there's nowhere in the world_ **

**_I'd rather be_ **

**_Than here in my room_ **

**_Dreaming about you and me_ **

 

"But...but..." Haru tried to argue.

"But- if you don't see him, you will never know how he truly feels about you and you'll only assume the worst when that may not even be the case."

Haru remained silent, then a thought suddenly struck her.

"But if your Baron shouldn't you know-?"

Baron interrupted her by stepping away and placing a kiss on her forehead.

"Good bye Haru" said the baron as he began to slowly drift away and dissolve into nothing along with the ballroom.

"Wait! Baron!" she cried out to him.

Everything was completely gone by the time she tried to run to him and Haru began to fall into a black abyss.

　

* * *

 

Haru jolted up out of bed panting, trying to steady her breathing and her heartbeat.

After Haru calmed herself, she took a look at the clock. It was five thirty, the sun hadn't risen yet.

Haru sighed as she looked out the window.

'I should find out for myself, huh?' Haru thought.

Unsure of what she was actually doing, Haru jumped out of bed and headed towards her closet to get dressed.

"I guess ‘Dream Baron’ made a good point. I have to stop wondering what Baron thinks of me and just go and ask him myself." Haru said aloud.

As Haru became fully dressed, clothed in a winter coat and boots for the winter cold, she gathered all her courage and made her way to the door.

It was very early, but Baron did tell her the doors of the Bureau would be open for her, be it day or night.

　

**_Corazón_ **

**_I can't stop dreaming of you_ **

**_No puedo dejar de pensar en ti_ **

**_I can't stop dreaming_ **

 

Haru began to rush out of her house and down the street, in the direction of the Crossroads.

Once she reached the Crossroads. Muta was not there to guide her this time, so Haru had to follow her own memory as best she could.

****

**_Cómo te necesito_ **

**_I can't stop dreaming of you_ **

**_Mi amor, cómo te extraño_ **

 

Haru went through alleys, ran across roofs, and squeezed through tiny spaces, praying she wasn't disrupting anyone's sleep, till finally she saw what she was looking for... the archway.

　

**_Late at night when all the world_ **

**_Is sleeping_ **

**_I stay up and think of you_ **

 

Hesitantly, she began to slowly walk through the archway, but froze midway when she suddenly felt herself shrink in size rapidly.

She quickly began to check herself to see if anything changed and if she turned into a cat again. But she was still human, only small. A bit confused, but not deterred about her newly acquired size, she headed directly towards the Bureau.

She looked up at where Toto would be. He was not there.

'Where is everyone? Muta was not at the Crossroads and Toto's not here either. Does that mean Baron's not here too?' Haru swallowed hard.

'. . . Well, it won't hurt to try anyway.' Haru told herself. 'Maybe they're all inside?'

Finally making it to the Bureau's doors, she raised her fist to knock.

'Here goes nothing.' Haru thought as she gently began to knock on the hard wooden door.

She flinched when she heard footsteps on the other side, getting closer towards the doors. After what seemed like an hour, but was only seconds later, the doors opened to reveal the ever so handsome Baron Humbert von Gikkingen, who stared at her for a long moment with his piercing emerald eyes, making Haru feel a bit wobbly in the knees at his unblinking stare. Before Haru’s legs gave out, he finally spoke.

"Haru?" Baron said.

"I-! Ah-um-!"

Haru tried to say something. Anything! But nothing would properly come out, what could she say right now?!

Baron who seemed to have noticed her discomfort smiled at her.

"Please do come inside Haru. It's quite cold out right now, don't you think?" Baron said moving to the side, gesturing for Haru to come inside.

"Oh! Yes! Thank you!" Haru said too hastily and blushed in embarrassment, wanting to dig herself into a hole all of a sudden.

Baron chuckled and led her inside.

Next thing Haru knew, she was sitting on the couch waiting for Baron's special blend of tea.

"Milk with your tea or lemon?"

"Milk please." Haru replied.

"Good choice...once again." said Baron smiling at the déjà vu.

Haru couldn't help but blush at Baron's rare smile that she hadn’t seen much outside her dreams.

While Baron added the milk to her tea, Haru was contemplating how she would confess to Baron now that she was actually here with him.

'Okay Haru... it's now or never.' she thought.

Baron headed towards Haru and gave her the cup of tea.

"There you are," said Baron.

"Oh, thank you." replied Haru taking the cup from him.

Baron smiled in response, then took a seat in front of Haru.

They both sat in silence drinking their tea, till Baron broke the silence.

"So Haru, what is the purpose that you came here at 6 in the morning? Have a urgent problem you need my help with?" Baron with a soft grin.

Haru blushed hard again and then nervously laughed.

"No...not really" Haru said.

"Is this just a early morning visit then?" teased Baron.

"Well... umm...I...I just wanted...to...umm..." Haru stuttered.

'Get a grip Haru! You are here to finally tell him the truth, not to stutter like Porky Pig! Why can't you just do this?!' Haru scolded herself.

Baron's teasing smile faded and he softly sighed. He stood up from his seat and then sat next to the tongue-tied brunette.

"Haru, what's wrong?" he asked sincerely.

Breaking out of her self-scolding thoughts, Haru's brown eyes meet Baron's green ones, causing her heart to stop for a moment, having just noticed that Baron had moved next to her and was mere feet away. She stared at Baron for the longest time, her heartbeat and mind finally settling.

After three years here he was, right next to her and this was _real_. She longed for this day so much. She thought she'd never see him again because she feared his reaction. But, looking at Baron right now, she could tell he was not uncomfortable at all with having her around. In fact, he was acting warmly towards her, even more so than he did three years ago, like they had never parted.

Baron never belittled her because she confessed her feelings to him, he didn't before when he had the chance, why would he do it now? She knew that now. She knew that she could be honest about her feelings and he wouldn't scoff at her confession. He would just accept the fact kindly. She's truthfully always known, but she was still scared.

"Baron... I-" Haru began.

"Yes?" he replied softly and encouragingly.

"I-I love you!" Haru blurt out.

Baron's emerald eyes widened, then softened.

"Haru…"

"I wanted to say that to you, for the longest time, Baron. I wanted you to know my feelings,

even if you didn't feel the same way about me and this would just cause me grief in the end. I still wanted to tell you. And I'm sorry if this is awkward for you since you probably don't feel the same way-"

Haru was cut off by Baron pulling her into his arms for a warm embrace.

"B-Baron?!" Haru exclaimed blushing furiously.

Still holding her, Baron reluctantly broke a little from the embrace in order to look into Haru's chocolate brown eyes.

"I admire a woman who speaks from the heart" he said.

Before Haru could say anything, Baron continued on.

"Don't just jump to conclusions Haru."

"I am quite fond of you too. But... In other words..." said Baron bringing Haru back into a tight embrace.

"I love you."

　

**_And I still can't believe_ **

**_That you came up to me_ **

**_and said "I love you"_ **

**_I love you too_ **

 

Haru was wide eyed and speechless.

Her arms, which were hanging to her sides, slowly came up to hug Baron back.

"But...Baron. How could you love me? I-It's been three years since we've seen each other, so how could you love me? M-My crush on you was almost instant, but your feelings for me... i-it was different, so why-?" Haru asked.

Baron pulled from the hug and smiled at Haru.

"I kept in contact." Baron said.

Haru blinked.

"How?" Haru asked incredulously.

"The same way you have." Baron said simply.

Baron saw the look of utter confusion written on Haru's face and chuckled lightly.

"When we parted three years ago..." Baron started.

"I kept on thinking about your confession to me and truthfully, I couldn't get it out of my mind. At first, I tried to forget it because I didn't believe things would turn out well if I continued to dwell on it. Then days turn into months and I still couldn't get you out of my mind. Then I finally came to the conclusion that I also had a 'crush' on you as well. But since we never saw each other until now, I decided to pay a visit to King Lune and ask a favor of him. That favor alone helped you and me see each other on a regular basis, so we could be together."

Haru was still confused.

Baron continued on once more.

"Lune helped me with the ability to enter your dreams to see you."

　

**_Now I'm dreaming_ **

**_With you tonight_ **

**_Till tomorrow_ **

**_And for all of my life_ **

 

Dumbfounded, Haru struggled to not fall off the couch in shock.

"So! You were there the whole time?!" Haru almost shrieked.

"Yes."

"Then that means, that the dream I had tonight, it was really you the whole time?" Haru asked thinking of "Dream Baron's" behavior earlier that night.

Baron nodded.

"During our times together, all those dreams you had... with the two of us waltzing, my fondness for you quickly became love." said Baron finishing.

"I love you Haru."

Haru stared blankly at Baron, before a large smile began to appeared on her face. She happily looked at Baron, shaking her head in shock, still hardly believing this was happening.

"I love you too Baron." said Haru, not realizing tears of joy were beginning to form in her eyes.

Baron and Haru embraced each other again and held each other longer than they had ever before.

Baron purred in pleasure, which made Haru giggle finding it extremely cute.

　

**_And there's nowhere in the world I'd rather be_ **

**_Than here in my room_ **

**_Dreaming with you_ **

**_Endlessly_ **

 

Baron and Haru then stared at one another, both suddenly looking into each other's eyes deeply.

They started to slowly lean their heads toward each other, till finally, their lips met in a chaste kiss.

　

**_With you tonight_ **

**_I'll be holding you tight_ **

**_And there's nowhere in_ **

**_the world I'd rather be_ **

 

Haru was in complete bliss, as was Baron, Haru assumed since he was still purring.

　

**_Than here in my room_ **

　

Never in a million years did Haru think that Baron would ever harbor the same feelings for her and yet here she was, in Baron's gentle embrace as she and him held one another, their lips still touching in a soft kiss. Haru silently thanked everything that brought her to this moment and wished for this to not be another one of her dreams again. But then a thought crossed her mind.

Haru reluctantly broke the kiss to look at Baron again.

 

**_I'll be dreaming_ **

**_Endlessly_ **

 

"Does this mean... that we can be together now?" asked Haru almost timidly.

Baron smiled at her and caressed her cheek.

"It's only natural for two people to want to be together, when they love each other, is it not?" said Baron.

"Yes, but Baron. What are we going to do about me being a human and you being a cat figurine? How will this all work out?" asked Haru, beginning to worry about the answer.

Shaking his head, Baron kissed Haru's forehead.

"That's all already been taken care of, love." said Baron leaning in to capture Haru's lips into another chaste kiss.

"We have nothing to fear..."

　

**_I'll be dreaming of_ **

**_You tonight_ **

**_Endlessly_ **

**_And I'll be holding you tight_ **

**_Dreaming_ **

**_With you..._ **

**_Tonight_ **

**Author's Note:**

> Kind of a weird ending ^.^ but you can guess how Baron and Haru ended up together. Perhaps Haru turned into a cat figurine, Baron turned into human, they stayed as they are, or any other alternative, it's your choice.
> 
> The song is called Dreaming of You by Selena Quintanilla.
> 
>    
> ~~~Tribute to Selena R.I.P~~~


End file.
